


Overtime

by aielle



Category: ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! AAside (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aielle/pseuds/aielle
Summary: Tomoru was just about to leave the office but something suddenly came up...Warning: lots of work-related angst
Kudos: 13





	Overtime

"Kurokawa-senpai! Otsukaresama deshita!"

Tomoru blinked and looked up from his computer screen. "Oh. Otsukaresama." He replied absently to the kohai who was leaving the office. 

He blinked again. Wait. Tomoru quickly checked the time on his computer screen, then his phone, then his wristwatch. They all said 5:00PM. Office hours were officially over.

A tiny spark of joy lit up in his heart. He was able to finish all his work on time. No interruptions, no issues, no escalations. That meant he could hurry home and practice with the rest of the band. He could actually sit down and have dinner with them. 

Tomoru began to smile as his mind began to list out the things he could do. He saved his documents and shut down his computer. He sent a quick message to the group chat that he'd be home soon. He hurriedly packed up his things, his hands shaking a bit with excitement. Maybe he could finally start that game Jun lent him. Or watch the action movie Koharu recommended. Perhaps Daimon will let him help prepare dinner. Or he could relax and drink tea with Felix. The possibilities were endless. His face broke out into a full grin, a rare sight considering his usual state of exhaustion.

He walked towards the glass doors separating the IT department from the rest of the other areas. Just as he was about tap his access badge to open them, his ears perked up. He heard a soft persistent beeping coming from one of the control cabinets. The sound made his blood run cold. It was the tell-tale sound of a server that just crashed.

The few remaining people in the area scrambled. Some went to the control cabinet shouting out serial numbers. Others frantically typed on their keyboards, their fingers flying at amazing speeds. The department chief, who was surprisingly still in the office, yelled furiously into his mobile phone demanding what the hell happened.

Tomoru felt cold sweat trickle down his spine. He was so close to freedom. All he had to do was pretend he didn't hear it and walk out. Just tap the access badge, go out the door, head home. The band was waiting for him...

"Kurokawa-kun!!!" The chief bellowed from across the room. "Wait!!!"

He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds, the flicker of hope in his chest rapidly dwindling away. Tomoru turned around and looked towards his boss who was stomping towards him.

"Yes, Buchou?"

"Good thing you're still here. We need your help." The chief said briskly, pointing towards the control cabinet. "The main server for the Kansai region crashed. Log in again and help fix it."

He almost said yes automatically. But he managed to stop himself, remembering a conversation with Koharu.

_"Geez, Tomoru! You can't just keep saying yes everytime they ask you to do something." The pink-haired former gangster turned nursery teacher scowled at him. "You gotta stand up for yourself. You're not a robot. They don't own you!"_

"But, sir..." Tomoru said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. "I have plans for today. And it is not even my account. Surely the others can handle this?" He glanced towards the remaining people in the room.

The chief was taken aback by his hesitation, not expecting such a reply from a typically obedient employee. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that you have plans but surely they aren't as important compared to getting the entire Kansai region back online. You're the most senior engineer that's here right now and we need to get this done as soon as possible. Alright, Kurokawa-kun?"

"...alright." Tomoru found himself saying, numbly walking back towards his work station. His mind screamed at him.

_No! Please no! Not again!_

He pulled his chair back and rebooted his computer. As he waiting for the start-up to complete, he sent a message to the group chat once more.

**Sorry. Something came up. I can't make it today.**

His hands shook a little, different from the way they shook earlier.

There was an immediate reply from Jun. It was a sad face emoji. It was followed by a reply from Koharu, asking him if he was in any kind of trouble.

Tomoru replied with one word.

**Overtime.**

"Senpai!" A kohai approached him. "I sent you the error prompts via email. Let me know if you need more details."

He nodded, eyes on the computer screen once more. The light reflected onto his glasses, effectively concealing the expression on his eyes at that moment.

Several windows popped up on his monitor. Tomoru quickly scanned the lines of scripts. Maybe if he could fix this fast enough, he'd still be able to make it.

He began to frown. As he viewed more windows, codes and prompts, his frown deepened. Without looking at the young man standing beside him, he asked "Who did the scheduled maintenance refresh this afternoon?"

"Ah, uh... I did." The kohai said meekly, nervously wringing his hands. "Is something wrong?"

Tomoru's mouth was a thin hard line. He stared at the screen intently for a few more second. Eventually, he spoke with a quiet edge to his voice. "You entered the wrong command in the main data warehouse. This effectively broke all the table configurations. The scripts won't work and the server had to go on emergency shutdown because it wasn't receiving any data."

The young man paled. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" He frantically bowed.

_You're sorry? This is going to take all night to fix and all you can say is sorry? You usele---_

Tomoru shook his head as if to dispell the thought he was just about to form. He sighed. "It's okay, it happens. But please be more careful next time. I'll need your help to reconfigure all the broken connections. I'll email you the list. Please divide the work with the others who are still here. Meanwhile, I'll try to overwrite the command and get us back online."

"Yessir! Right away sir!" The kohai scampered off.

Tomoru removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Just then, a message came in from the group chat. It was Daimon reminding him to eat dinner. He smiled wanly at the message.

_"Did you come home just now?" Daimon looked at Tomoru, concern plainly written in his plum-colored eyes as he stumbled into the sharehouse at early morning. "You plan to sleep a bit then go back to work? Please take care of your body more."_

He focused his attention on the monitor once more. In the background, he could hear the staff frantically punching the necessary codes to reconnect the broken data connections. He could also hear the chief talking on his phone, this time profusely apologizing to clients at the other end of the line.

The part of his mind focused on work skillfully manipulated the faulty scripts and did what it could to get the server live again. But there was another part of his mind, a secret part, running parallel with the other. It held a voice he had tried to suppress years ago. It was the voice of his inner self that cried out when he decided to give up his dreams of a music career to focus on a more stable job.

_What am I even doing here? What is the point of all this?_

Tomoru grit his teeth, his jaw clenching.

_"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Jun asked, his soft voice a mix of worry and frustration. "It was bad enough when you quit music before. But now that we're in a band again, why are you letting that black company turn you into a corporate slave and take over your life? Do you even like your job that much?"_

Tomoru closed his eyes for a few seconds and let out a sigh.

_Why indeed?_

Different windows popped in and out of his monitor. Lines of script continued to run on some of the other windows.

_"Isn't it great, Tomoru?" Jun smiled as they wrapped up their last live in Nagoya. "We used to say we'd make a living out of music back in uni. If we win LRFes, we can finally make that dream come true."_

_"Yeah, our first and last chance." Tomoru had said in reply._

His own words echoed loudly in his head. It made him want to cry. His heart did not want to be here, stuck in front of a computer, working long tedious hours, risking his health and sanity just for the sake of a regular paycheck.

What he wanted most was to play the guitar and make music with the rest of Fantome Iris. He wanted to create the mysterious, beautiful world Felix had envisioned that resonated with his own whimsical yearnings.

_"Tomoru... No, LIGHT. Will you join me and help me build my kingdom?" Felix smiled brightly, his elegant hand streched out towards him in a welcoming gesture._

Felix had shined like the sun that time. Tomoru remembered it vividly, the memory seared in his mind. It had been his salvation. It still is.

As he hit the Enter button, all the windows on his screen closed automatically. The beeping from the control cabinet stopped. Cheers can be heard from the group of kohai as the server got back online. The chief breathed a loud sigh of relief.

Tomoru shut down his computer and left silently. He did not bother to say goodbye to anyone else. He just had enough time to catch the last train.

He checked his phone as he hurried into the elevator. There was a message from Felix.

**We'll be waiting for you.**

Tomoru felt like a great weight had been lifted from him. He gave a tired but happy smile as he typed a reply.

**I'm on my way home. For real this time.**

**Author's Note:**

> *Makes references to the Fantome Iris S-SOL "histoire des vampires" for Jun's dialogue and ARGOHAN #3 for Daimon's dialogue.
> 
> *Headcanon dialogue for Koharu and Felix.
> 
> *Not an IT expert but the terms should be legit enough.
> 
> *Thoughts and flashbacks in _italics_ , chat messages in **bold**.
> 
> *As a corporate slave myself, I sympathize with Tomoru most out of all the AAside boys.


End file.
